|
Zebulon Baird |
"Zebulon Baird represented Buncombe County in the House of Commons in 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 and in the Senate of the State in 1806, 1809, 1818, 1821 and 1822. He was efficient in procuring the enactment of the law under which the Buncombe Turnpike was constructed and is said to have found difficulty in reconciling his friends to his action in this matter....In 1793 Zebulon and [his brother] Bedent Baird carried up the first four-wheel wagon ever seen in Buncombe County, all transportation theretofore having been by horseback or on sleds or trucks. This wagon they brought across the South Carolina or Saluda Gap. Zebulon Baird died in March 1827. Before his death the Town and Gillihan tracts...together with the Baird 400 acres...were sold under execution issued from Morganton on a judgment obtained against them by a third brother, Andrew Baird, and were bought at this sale by Zachariah Candler, who undoubtedly purchased in behalf of Zebulon Baird, to whom he conveyed the land by deed made eight days later than that to him from the sheriff. After the death of Zebulon Baird, his brother Bedent...conceived that in this transaction there had been something unfair to himself, and sued the widow and children and administrator [Gov. Swain] of his deceased brother for an equal share in the land. This famous suit, at first decided in favor of Bedent, was carried by his opponents to the Supreme Court of North Carolina, where at June term 1837, nearly 10 years after its beginning it was decided in favor of the heirs of Zebulon. (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, pp. 84, 85.) "Zebulon Baird was attacked by his fatal sickness while riding along the road between Reems Creek and his home and fell from his horse. His residence was the old house...on the eastern side of the old Buncombe Turnpike road, about two and one-half miles north of Asheville and one-fourth of a mile south of the entrance of the Burnsville Road...near the Casket Plant. This house was partly a log structure and is said to have been constructed with loop holes in order to be used as a blockhouse in case of need against Indians. (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, p.85.) "Whereas, It is represented to this General Assembly [Nov. 1797] that the establishing a town at the court house in Buncomb [sic] county would be of great utility and accord with the desire of the inhabitants of said county, and there being a number of lots already laid off at the said court house, and Zebulon Baird, Esq., the proprietor of lands adjoining the same, having signified his consent to lay off as much more land as will amount to sixty-three acres, including said lots for the purpose aforesaid. (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, p. 92.)"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that the aforesaid sixty-three acres of land be and the same is hereby constituted and established, a town by the name of Ashevill [ sic], and that John Jarrett, Samuel Chunn, William Welch, George Swain and Zebulon Baird, Esq., be and they are hereby appointed, commissioners for the purpose of carrying into effect the plan of said town and disposing of the lots in such a manner as they or a majority of them shall think advisable;.... (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, p. 92.) "The lots added by Zebulon Baird, and referred to in this statute, are represented by a plat then prepared, a copy of which, preserved by the late Nehemiah Blackstock of Buncombe County, and by him given to the late Capt. R. B. Johnston, is here shown. (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, p. 93.) "Plainly, it was not the purpose of Zebulon Baird to give to the public that additional land mentioned in this act, which he 'signified his consent to lay off,' nor does it seem to have been so understood at the time. In fact, at that time, this land was not entirely his own. It belonged equally to him and his brother Bedent Baird. However, the lots were laid off as contemplated, and were subsequently sold by the heirs of Zebulon Baird as town lots." (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville and Buncombe County, p. 93.) |
| "Here the future Gov. [David Swain] saw
the first wagon which he had ever beheld, being the first ever in
Buncombe County. It was brought to the house of his father, up the
washed out channel of the creek, for there was then no road in Buncombe
County large enough for a wagon to travel. Of this event the late
Gov. Vance says: 'The future Governor of North Carolina stood in the
orchard waiting its approach with wonder and awe, and finally, as its
thunder reverberated in his ears as it rolled over the rocky channel of
the creek, he incontinently took to his heels, and only rallied when
safely entrenched behind his father's house.' (1922. Sondley, F. A. Asheville
and Buncombe County, p.100.) "The Bairds [Zebulon & Beadon]...were the first merchants in Buncombe, and 'imported' the first 'Jewsharps,' which were then as great a wonder as a Giraffe would be now. 'Gourd fiddles' were then in vogue, 'puncheon floors' and 'corn-stalk bows!' They had carried up their four-wheel wagon across the Saluda Gap in 1793. This Saluda Gap road was opened by Col. Earle for the State of South Carolina, at the sum of four thousand dollars. (1858. Bennett, D. K. Chronology of North Carolina.pp.102, 103.) |
|
Bibliography Bennet, Daniel K. The Chronology of North Carolina New York: J. M. Edney, 1858. Sondley, Forster A. Asheville and Buncombe County. Asheville, NC: The Citizen Co., 1922
|
|